Executive Director - PM/CM Services, UAE

Overview:

KEO is a creative enterprise, where innovation is a way of life. We are uniquely resourced with end-to-end services to take clients from inspiration – through conceptualization – to realization of planning, design or project delivery in the built and natural environments. For over 60 years we’ve led with vision, contributing to many of the world’s most ambitious projects, iconic places, remarkable experiences and prosperous communities.

As a highly integrated and agile AEP/PMCM firm, KEO is recognized by ENR as one of the Top 225 International Design Firms and one of the Top 20 International PM/CM Firms. We are also ranked by World Architecture as the 57th largest global architecture firm and the #1 Firm in the Middle East Region in their 2023 WA100 Survey.

We invite you to join us. Why?

When you join KEO, you’ll discover more than just a job – you’ll find a supportive environment that fosters your professional development through internal global mobility and career development and does so within a culture that supports company-wide health and well-being through on-demand counselling services and regular workplace clinics. You will be invited to celebrate community events such as sports days, fun-runs, in-house sports teams and beach clean ups. In addition to your competitive package and benefits you will have access to a suite of policies that include hybrid working arrangements, individual athletic sponsorship, study assistance sponsorship, employee referral rewards, mentoring and coaching programs and extensive in-house on demand learning courses.

Responsibilities:

Our newest opportunity is for an Executive Director - PMCM Services to assume and complete executive ownership, strategic governance, and P&L accountability for KEO’s Project Management and Construction Management (PMCM) and Construction Supervision (CS) business unit within the United Arab Emirates. This role commands a seasoned corporate leader capable of engineering year on year revenue growth, spearheading tier-one client development, and elevating operational performance across a multi-billion-dirham infrastructure and program portfolio. The incumbent will safeguard KEO’s institutional standards while driving market penetration and enterprise agility across the region

We envisage success in this role to include;

• Direct financial health across the entire UAE portfolio, with absolute accountability for fee structures, resource architecture, operational margins, and cost-containment frameworks.
• Champion fiscal discipline through rigorous oversight of commercial risk variables, internal costing matrixes, and the accelerated collection of corporate receivables.
• Board-Level Reporting, deliver high-fidelity financial forecasting, critical risk matrices, and strategic growth updates to the executive leadership team.
• Calibrate and execute the mid-to-long-term corporate growth blueprint for UAE PMCM/CS services, aligning with overarching divisional mandates.
• Orchestrate executive-level business development, steering high-value client engagement strategies, capital project procurement, and master bid/proposal validation.
• Mobilise internal market intelligence and collaborate across divisional boundaries to capitalize on regional cross-selling networks and amplify KEO's market share.
• Mandate absolute compliance with corporate QA/QC benchmarks, rigorous HSE policies, and structural Project Management Plans (PMPs).
• Provide elite technical and contractual steerage over complex, large-scale rail, infrastructure, and urban programs to ensure synchronisation with scope, schedule, and legal parameters.
• Chair decisive executive project interventions, resolve escalated delivery vulnerabilities, and maintain rigid control mechanics over contractor and consortium delivery.
• Architect and mentor a high-performance, multidisciplinary executive team, leading the executive search and selection of elite senior management talent.
• Foster a corporate environment anchored on transparency, rigorous accountability, and mutual cross-functional alignment.
• Guarantee total institutional alignment with statutory compliance and corporate policies, while championing agile workforce mobility frameworks.

Qualifications:

To be successful in this dynamic opportunity, we envision that your career journey to date will include 20+ years work experience in Project and Construction management including leadership of large, complex programs.* Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering or related field (Master’s preferred).

• Membership of a Professional Engineering or Project / Construction Management Society or other recognised body is desirable. Certification(s) in PMP (Project Management Professional) preferred.

KEO’s performance is founded upon integrity, results, innovation, safety and our people. We embrace diversity and recognise its’ contribution to client success wherever we work.

We are excited to hear how you can partner with our award-winning team and treat all expressions of interest confidentially.